June26, 2016

WASHINGTON—Representative Eliot L. Engel, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, today made the following statement on the decision by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to suspend countermeasures against Iran for the next 12 months:

“While Iran has rightly been kept on the FATF blacklist, I am deeply concerned about what appears to be a major policy shift by the Task Force. Iran has not shown any real intention to cut off their support for their major terrorist proxies, including Hezbollah, Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Until Iran does so, financial institutions around the globe should be wary of transactions with Iran. Congress will certainly be watching. We have not forgotten that Iran continues to be the biggest state sponsor of terrorism in the world. Global financial institutions should not enable Iran’s dangerous behavior.”